The paper is a review and evaluation of software used for the purpose of its correlation to content standards, ease of classroom use, ability to keep the student on task, and student appeal. This project was to create a software review based on instructional standards and the principles of Bloom's taxonomy, which is a classification of levels of thinking.

The paper is a review and evaluation of software used for the purpose of its correlation to content standards, ease of classroom use, ability to keep the student on task, and student appeal. This project was to create a software review based on instructional standards and the principles of Bloom's taxonomy, which is a classification of levels of thinking.

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the use of a course management system in a University learning environment and the factors that affect students' attitude and performance in such environments and to study the relationship between these factors. The course management system that was used in the research studies in this thesis was WebCT. Three in-field studies were carried out to achieve the aim of this research thesis. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used in the studies. Data from participants were collected via questionnaires, interviews, and numerical data from the WebCT tracking system. First the relationship between the students' attitude towards using WebCT and their module leaders' attitude towards using it was studied. Then, the relationship between students' cognitive styles and their satisfaction, their achievement, and their way of using WebCT was investigated. Finally, a model of the critical factors affecting students‟ attitudes to WebCT, use of WebCT and achievement was developed and tested. The model is divided into three main dimensions. The three dimensions are 1) The learner dimension: students' interaction with their classmates, students' capability of using the internet, students' capability of using WebCT. 2) The instructor dimension: Instructor's technical competence, instructor's way of presenting materials on WebCT, interaction between students and their instructor. 3) The technology dimension: usefulness, ease of use, flexibility, quality. The results suggested that students have a positive attitude towards using a course management system (WebCT) on their courses. Also, the results indicated that students' use of WebCT is a positive indicator of their academic achievement (in terms of performance on specific modules). It was also found that instructor attitude and way of using WebCT affects students' attitude and performance when using WebCT. The Technology dimension was found to be a positive indicator of students' attitude and use of WebCT. The Instructor dimension was also found to be a positive indicator of students' attitude and achievement in WebCT. Moreover, the Learner dimension was found to be a positive indicator of students' attitude, use of WebCT and achievement.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of Web-based learning (WBL) versus those of traditional instructor-based learning (IBL) on student knowledge and satisfaction based on student learning styles. Other goals were to determine if WBL is more effective for those with a particular learning style. The study examined a sample of undergraduate students who were enrolled in the college algebra offered as both oncampus instructor-based (traditional) and Web-based at the university of North Texas (UNT). A total of 36 Web-based students and 58 instructor-based students participated in this study. This study utilized a posttest-only intact group. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) measured the learning styles of students. This study used learning methods (Web-based learning (WBL), instructor-based learning (IBL)), and learning styles (Diverger, Converger, Assimilator, and Accommodator) as independent variables. Student knowledge and student satisfaction was measured at the end of the course as independent variables. Based upon the results of the LSI, post-learning exam, and satisfaction a series of two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA 4x2) techniques and independent variable tests was used for each of the dependent variables, knowledge and satisfaction, based on a student's learning styles. The results revealed that students' learning styles were statistically significant for knowledge when learning on the Web versus instructor-led. In addition, the learning style was important factor for Web-based learning. The results indicated students with Assimilator and Converger as learning styles received better result with the Web-based learning method. Furthermore, this study found there is significant difference in student satisfaction based on learning on the Web versus instructor-led. The outcome of the study could be of particular interest in educational institutions; especially those that want to transfer some of their traditional courses onto the Web. The finding also has implications for training organizations as they seek efficient and effective ways to satisfy their training needs.

This investigation concerned the effect of nurse educator/nursing student learning style match on the latter's problem solving ability. Problem solving ability was defined as the processes of finding facts, problems, ideas, solutions and their acceptance in other than past experience, tradition and habit. The underlying conceptual framework was Kolb's holistic model of experiential learning which combines experience, perception, cognition and behavior. The model has vertical and horizontal axes resulting in four quadrants or kinds of learners: diverger, assimilator, converger and accommodator. Instruments used were Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and Gover's Nursing Performance Simulation Instrument.

Problem solving and strategy adaptation was assessed in 47 children ranging from 36 to 67 months. This was evaluated through problem sets in which participants were given tools that failed to reach given goal states, and then instructed to select appropriate tools in order to reach desired results. Analyses revealed that when participants were given a choice of tools to solve a given problem, they were more likely to select a correct tool when options were similar in function and appearance. Additionally, participants were more likely to verbalize the need for a new tool when there was a lack of novel tool choices. However, the presence of a novel tool choice was linked to longer problem solving time. Findings are congruent with literature that suggests children possess the ability to select tools based on functional, not superficial, qualities, and can be easily distracted by the presence of novel stimuli. / by Allison Weinstein. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Com o significativo crescimento da Educação a Distância (EAD) surge uma preocupação, que é a validação da qualidade dos cursos e da aprendizagem dos alunos. Uma alternativa promissora é a criação de cursos mais customizados, mas para isso é necessário conhecer as preferências individuais dos alunos, e uma das ferramentas é a identificação de seus estilos cognitivos. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a influência dos estilos cognitivos no perfil do aluno de cursos da modalidade a distância. Optou-se por uma pesquisa exploratório-descritiva, visando obter maior familiaridade com o problema e possibilidades para descrever o fenômeno dos estilos cognitivos na EAD, utilizando um instrumento psicométrico traduzido. A amostra foi constituída por 103 alunos, distribuídos entre os cursos de Administração, Tecnólogo em Gestão Financeira e Computação. Os resultados confirmam que os alunos possuem estilos cognitivos diferentes, o que reforça a necessidade de cursos mais individualizados, com estratégias de aprendizagem diversificadas, respeitando e valorizando as características individuais dos estudantes. São discutidas as implicações dos achados, bem como as diferenças significativas entre os estilos cognitivos e o perfil dos alunos nos três cursos estudados. / With the significant increase in Distance Learning (DL), a new concern arises: the validation of programs\' quality standards and students\' learning. A promising alternative is the design of more customized programs for which purpose it is necessary to learn about students\' individual preferences, and one of the tools that can be used is the identification of cognitive styles. Hence, this study aimed at evaluating the influence of cognitive styles on the profile of students in DL programs. An exploratory descriptive investigation was conducted for better acquaintance with the problem and the possibility to describe the cognitive style phenomenon in DL by using a translated psychometric instrument. The sample consisted of 103 students from the Business Administration, Financial Management and Information Technology DL programs. The results confirmed that students have different cognitive styles, which reinforces the need for more individualized programs with diversified learning strategies that respect and value students\' individual characteristics. Implications of the findings as well as the significant differences between cognitive styles and the profiles of students from the three programs studied are discussed.

Computer technology has been introduced into the field of language education for more than three decades. However, how individual learners interact with language learning multimedia programmes in different ways is not yet understood. A possible explanation is related to the learners� variables. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of cognitive style, one of these variables, on the language learning process. The participants of this study were a group of ESL university students from Malaysia, who interacted with a language instruction CD-ROM. This study focuses on investigating the interaction process from the students� perspective. Riding�s Cognitive Style Analysis, a computer software that measures individual�s cognitive style, was used to assist in identifying and categorizing students� cognitive style. Thirty students� cognitive style was measured before each student spent an average of three hours interacting with a language instruction CD-ROM. This study adopts the case study approach. The primary method of collecting data involved semi-structured interviews with students that focused on their experiences and preferences while interacting with language instruction CD-ROM. Factors that affected the interaction process were then examined to detect whether they were linked to the differences of students� cognitive orientation. The findings of this study reflect the mixed results that previous researchers have found regarding the effect of cognitive style on students� language learning experiences. Although responses toward the content, graphics and vocabulary items did partially reflect their cognitive orientation, cognitive style was not the only factor that influenced these students� behaviours or preferences as they interacted with the language instruction CD-ROM. The study found factors that were not linked to the students� cognitive styles, yet these also influenced the interaction process. These non-cognitive-style factors consisted of students� language learning motivation, social presence, and their conception of language learning and cultural influence, which resulted in teacher-centeredness. As a result of these findings, theoretical, research and pedagogical implications are discussed. Recommendations and limitations of the study are also presented.

The purpose of the present study is to identify 10th grade students&rsquo / use of proof schemes in geometry questions and to investigate the differences in the use of proof schemes with respect to their cognitive style and gender. The sample of the study was 224 tenth grade students from four secondary schools. Of those, 126 participants were female and 98 participants were males. Data was collected at the end of the academic year 2005-2006 through uses of two data collection instruments: Geometry Proof Test (GPT) and Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT). GPT, included eleven open-ended questions on triangle concept, was developed by researcher to investigate students&rsquo / use of proof schemes. The proof schemes reported by Harel and Sowder (1998) were used as a framework while categorizing the students&rsquo / responses. GEFT developed by Witkin, Oltman, Raskin and Karp (1971) was used to determine cognitive styles of the students as field dependent (FD), field independent (FI) and field mix (FM). To analyze data, descriptive analyses, repeated measure ANOVA with three proof schemes use scores as the dependent variables and a 2 (gender) x 3 (cognitive styles: FD, FM, FI) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with three proof schemes use scores as the dependent variables was employed. The results revealed that students used externally based proof schemes and empirical proof schemes significantly more than analytical proof schemes. Furthermore, females used empirical proof schemes significantly more than the males. Moreover, field dependent students used externally based proof schemes in GPT significantly more than field independent students. Also, field independent students use analytical proof schemes significantly more than field dependent mix students. There was no significant interaction between gender and cognitive style in the use of proof schemes. The significant differences in students&rsquo / use of proof schemes with respect to their gender and FDI cognitive style connote that gender and FDI cognitive styles are important individual differences and should be taken into consideration as instructional variables, while teaching and engaging in proof in geometry and in mathematics.